BOSTON—Above the stalls in the Bruins’ locker room, there are pictures of all of the former Bruins who have been inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and if you walk around the room, it is a very cool journey through time, from the early days of the NHL right up to… wait a minute, is that Brian Leetch?

Yes, Leetch is there. He played 61 games for Boston in 2005-06, his final season in the NHL. He also played for the Maple Leafs for 15 games at the end of 2003-04, plus 13 playoff games in which he tallied eight assists. There was a fan at Game 1 of the Toronto-Boston series who enjoyed having Leetch on the Leafs enough to buy a jersey.

Hockey is funny that way. Two years ago, I saw Leetch play in an outdoor alumni game at the University of Connecticut’s football stadium. It was ex-Bruins against former Hartford Whalers, and Leetch was out there with the Boston team. The main event that day was an AHL game, the Connecticut Whale against the Providence Bruins. The only player from that game who was on the ice for the big-league Bruins on Wednesday night? Wade Redden, naturally.

Hockey is funny that way, how transient it is. You can see it on the wall of the Bruins’ locker room. Boston has had eight Hall of Famers who also played for the Maple Leafs, including Leetch … and Bernie Parent, who it’s weird to think of as anything other than the backstop for the Broad Street Bullies in Philadelphia. Speaking of Philly, maybe Jaromir Jagr can get himself to Toronto before all is said and done.

Better odds that Phil Kessel gets there … and won’t that be odd when they put his picture on the wall of the Bruins’ locker room forever?